The Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) on Museum Island in Berlin
is a gallery showing many important 19th century works from the
collection of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

HistoryThe Nationalgalerie was founded in 1861, after the
donations of 262 paintings by banker Johann Heinrich Wagener. The
collection was first housed in the buildings of the Akademie der Künste.
The current building, shaped like a Roman temple with an appended apse
was planned by Friedrich August Stüler in 1865, following a sketch by
King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and its construction between 1869
and 1876 was overseen by Heinrich Strack. The building was heavily
damaged in World War II air raids. It was partly reopened in 1949, but
reconstruction continued until 1969. Between 1998 and 2001, the museum
was renovated thoroughly. Some extra halls were added on the uppermost
floor and now contain the Romantic works.

Collection

The collection contains works from Classicism and Romanticism (by
artists such as Caspar David Friedrich, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, and
Karl Blechen), of the Biedermeier, the French Impressionism (Édouard
Manet, Claude Monet) and early modern works (Adolph von Menzel, Max
Liebermann, Lovis Corinth). Among the most important exhibits are
Friedrich's Mönch am Meer, Menzel's Eisenwalzwerk and sculptor Johann
Gottfried Schadow's Prinzessinnengruppe, a double statue of princesses
Louise and Friederike of Prussia.